


The theatre kid and the souless monster who doesn't like lattes

by Time_is_fading



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Plancemas 2020, School Projects, Secret Santa, Theatre Kid, more like mild distaste to friends to lovers, nerdy kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Time_is_fading/pseuds/Time_is_fading
Summary: It had all been Hunk’s fault, really. Well, Pidge had been the one to blow off a good part of her savings on electric components —Rover was going to be her greatest achievement so far, it was totally worth it! —but it was Hunk who suggested she take this awful job. It wasn't even so hard for that matter. The catch: unbearable Lance McLain.
Relationships: Lance/Pidge (Voltron), Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16
Collections: Plance Secret Santa 2020





	The theatre kid and the souless monster who doesn't like lattes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [numbah34](https://archiveofourown.org/users/numbah34/gifts).



> This is part of the Plance Secret Santa 2020, for @numbah34! Merry Christmas, hope you enjoy <3

It had all been Hunk’s fault, really. Well, Pidge had been the one to blow off a good part of her savings on electric components —Rover was going to be her greatest achievement so far, it was totally worth it! —but it was Hunk who suggested she take this awful job. True, it was out of concern for his newly-broke friend, but it was still a stupid job. She wished she hadn’t turned down her recurring position at the campus’ IT support, but her schedule had been so busy this semester there was no way she could’ve possibly kept that jig up. Sure, some people paid her to make their assignments here and there, and there was the occasional tutoring session, but they didn’t cover the entirety of her expenses. She still needed some extra income, and the coffee shops were already swarming with students trying to make a living as baristas. So, she was left with no choice but to take this forsaken job.

The job in its purest form wasn’t even that bad. All she had to do was help a theatre kid with some special effects or something. Pidge had no experience whatsoever on that department, but Hunk had been kind enough to recommend her, so she had to pull through. It didn’t seem to be too difficult anyway, at least not compared to the kind of projects she was used to, so she’d easily agreed to it. What made it all incredibly insufferable, however, was the student she had to help.

Lance McLain.

Theatre major, Hunk’s childhood friend, and now, Pidge’s current nightmare.

From the moment she’d walked into the café they were meeting at to discuss the terms of their agreement, she knew this had been a terrible decision. He was there at the cash register, trying to hit on a girl who seemed too sleep-deprived to respond anything else than “That’ll be $5.35”. of course, that obviously didn’t stop him from throwing her a wink before moving to pick up his order.

Pidge briefly thought about walking out and never coming back, but before she could act on it, Lance turned around and spotted her right away. He offered her a bright grin, as if it wasn’t 7 AM on a Saturday morning, and motioned for a table near the windows, two coffee cups in hand.

Maybe, if it wasn’t such an ungodly hour to be awake, if he hadn’t assumed what she would drink, or if she hadn’t seen him flirting with a girl who was clearly not into him, Pidge would’ve thought he was nice. But that hadn’t been the case, so now every second she spent on this place made Pidge regret her life decisions more and more.

It didn’t get any better when, once they sat across each other, he began to talk. Barely an introduction and he was already spilling word after word without a stop. How he met Hunk when they were small, how he’d found out that acting was his call and a bunch of other related things. Pidge didn’t want to come off as rude, but she really didn’t need his life story to do her job. Her distaste must have shown in her face since he stopped not too long after that and began explaining what his assignment was.

His final project was to set up a scene in which he would have to tell a story without speaking, only through his body movement. Given his talkative nature, this sure seemed like a challenge. However, they had the chance to use any sort of prop or special effect they wanted, and that’s where Pidge came in. Lance wanted to add some razzle and dazzle —his words— but he had no idea on how to do it since apparently technology and computers hated him.

It all seemed fine with Pidge. She had no idea how to do any of it either, but she would figure it out somehow like she always did. The only problem was that Lance didn’t even know what sort of effects he wanted. He began rambling about colorful lights, twinkling and shining and spinning, maybe some fog and rain for ambiance, or even snow since the holidays were coming soon, and thunder! Definitely thunder. Fires were cool too, but maybe it wasn’t the best idea to try those out, so perhaps more lights, only red this time. And then make them blue to simulate him being underwater, with bubbles and—

“How about a giant rocketship that takes you into space?” Pidge interrupted dryly with the most serious face she could muster. She was absolutely done with this conversation.

“Wouldn’t that be hard to create, though?” Lance asked, genuinely confused.

Pidge scoffed, unable to take any more of this nonsense. On a whim, she stood up from her seat, fumbled around her bag for some cash, and all but slapped it into the table in front of him.

“Call me when you _actually_ have a plan,” she said as calmly as she could, which was actually very desperately. “Oh, and I don’t like lattes,” she added as an afterthought and proceeded to walk away.

* * *

When Hunk told Lance he knew the perfect person to help him with his project, a computer wizard with no boundaries, he’d been very excited to meet them. Technology had always hated him; whenever he tried to do something other than handling his internet browser, computers rebelled against him and ended up malfunctioning. The same thing happened with handling any sort of equipment, like the incident he’d had with the fog machine they used for productions. It was a miracle it hadn’t broken, and even more that he’d kept his left eye. So, of course, Hunk’s words had filled him with hope. Even if Lance was terrible with technology, he still loved all that it could achieve.

But boy, hadn’t that excitement died a horrible death when he’d actually met the person who was supposed to be the answer to all his prayers. His meeting with Pidge had been less than ideal, and that was putting it mildly. Throughout their conversation, he’d tried his best to keep a smiling face despite Pidge’s unamused scowl. She was clearly not much of a speaker, either, since she’d kept all her responses curt and straight to the point, but he tried to handle that by making up for what she wasn’t saying with his own words. In hindsight, that may not have been the wisest choice, but he didn’t know what else to do at the moment. He’d tried his best to share his enthusiasm for the project with her, but the little midget only managed to look even more displeased as the seconds went by. It had been a bit shocking when she stormed off, but not that unexpected, and truth be told, he’d even been relieved.

Besides, what kind of heartless soul didn’t like lattes?

And yet, he had to work with her. Even with the attitude, she was still his best bet to make his vision come true, whatever that may be. He hated to admit, her final scatting remark held some truth to it. He didn’t have a clue as to what kind of story he wanted to tell with his performance, and he was the one who had to figure it out. Only then, could he actually work with her and be clear about what he expected from her.

So, after those disastrous first impressions, he gathered his wits and set to work on his piece. He wanted it to be a deeply emotional depiction of life and all it entailed, going through its cycles in an artistic way. For two weeks, he focused his efforts on creating the perfect sequence of movements and gestures that depicted his intentions, and when he felt he was finally getting there, he called her.

They agreed to meet in the special room theatre majors usually presented their performances at. It was spacious and painted in black, with a small stage at the front. It had stage lights and a sound system at the ready, but apart from that and the chairs, it was mostly bare. Ever since Lance had entered his major, this had been where he’d presented his projects, so it held a special place in his heart. This particular project wouldn’t be his first he’d perform on his own, but it was the first one he’d prepare mostly alone, so he wanted to leave a lasting impression.

When Pidge arrived, she immediately apologized for blowing him off so rudely last time. He, in turn, apologized for being all over the place and not having anything concrete in mind. Quickly after that, they began to discuss the specifics of the project. He wanted to work with projection mapping to emphasize his performance with nice light effects, to add a bit more meaning to it all, and as he’d previously mentioned it on their call, she was ready to start working on it.

They had the room reserved for an hour, and it flew by with Lance on the stage performing and Pidge coordinating the images with his movements. As soon as they’d begun working on it, it was as if all previous misconceptions had flown out the wind, and their minds melded into perfect synchronization. All Lance had to do was take a step, and Pidge already had the perfect picture to go along with it; and when she gave him suggestions to improve the flow of the presentation, he changed his moves accordingly. They were a good team, and by the end of the session, they’d already made considerable progress. All past disagreements now seemed petty and childish, nothing more than the product of a bad morning, so they said their goodbyes with joy and a newfound appreciation for each other.

* * *

Just like that first session, many more went by in the blink of an eye. Every time, the performance came more to life, Lance’s vision supported by Pidge’s special effects. They began to talk more and more during their sessions, about school, their friends, and overall, life. They even began to hang out outside of their sessions, going for lunch when it was early, or just for a walk if they met during the afternoons. The more time they spent together, the better they felt around each other and enjoyed the other’s company.

Lance wasn’t such a ditz as Pidge had initially thought. He was very kind and fun to be around, and while his ideas were sometimes a bit all over the place, when organized, they actually made a lot of sense. And Pidge wasn’t as antisocial as Lance had thought. She really wasn’t a morning person, but after a good amount of caffeine she could go on for hours about her passion for technology and the project that had left her in need of money, her homemade Rover.

When they finished their work together, even when Pidge received her proper payment and all that was left to do was for Lance to present it, it didn’t really feel like an ending for either of them. Still, things felt a bit hazy between them, so Lance invited her to watch him perform on his evaluation day. It was rewarding to see something they’d worked so hard to create, come to life in all the perfect ways. Lance’s acting was out of this world, his face and body a canvas for all the emotions words would never be able to express, and the effects made it all even more surreal. It was so stunning, Pidge even noticed Lance’s professor shed a tear in awe.

After Lance had received his feedback, along with some well-deserved praise and the top grade, he stepped off the stage and went straight to Pidge. They hugged tightly, both amazed at the results and grateful for having worked together. Lance had been so thrilled, he even managed to lift Pidge a little bit of the ground, receiving a playful laugh from her in response. He murmured his thanks into her hair, making chills run down her spine before he finally let her back down.

“So, next time we’ll do the rocket ship, right?” he asked her playfully.

“Only if it's shaped like a lion, obviously,” she retorted right back before they both burst into laughter again.

“Obviously. For now, how about we go get some coffee? My treat,” he said kindly, before quickly adding “Not a latte this time.”

“Careful, I could get used to this,” she retorted.

“Maybe you should, Pidge, maybe you should.”


End file.
